Are the Unique Phytocannabinoids Found in Cannabis Actually Essential Nutrients? The answer may surprise you.

The human body is an amazingly perfected evolutionary feat of nature. We have adapted and evolved over thousands of years into the most advanced creatures on Earth. Each cell in our body performs a specific task or supports the overall functionality of another part. Nutrients found in plants and other animals are vital to the functioning of these cells and without them, we cannot survive.

A growing number of doctors and medical professionals believe that all disease in the human body is a direct result of a nutrient deficiency. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies have been proven to cause diseases, illnesses, and debilitating conditions. For example, if a human being does not get Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) for a long enough period of time, they will develop a dangerous skin condition known as scurvy – which left untreated can lead to death.

If this is what happens when we don’t get Vitamin C, what must happen to our bodies if we do not nourish and feed the other cells?

The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is a group of endogenous cannabinoid receptors located in the brains of mammals and throughout the central and peripheral nervous systems, consisting of neuromodulatory lipids and their receptors. This system of cells was only discovered in the past 30 years (1990), and doctors are not taught about these cells in medical school. Known as “the body’s own cannabinoid system”, the ECS is involved in a variety of physiological processes including appetite, pain-sensation, mood, and memory, and in mediating the psychoactive effects of cannabis. The ECS is also involved in voluntary exercise and may be related to the evolution of the runner’s high in human beings and related aspects of motivation or reward for locomotor activity in other animals.

Prior to 1937, phytocannabinoids found in hemp were prevalent in a vast majority of the food supply. Hemp oils and hemp proteins were used to fortify food formulations and consumed daily worldwide. Hemp was used as feed stock for nearly all animals that we consumed. Farmers would feed hemp to chickens, pigs, and cattle, for its high protein and essential amino acids. The animals would then pass along to humans phytocannabinoids through their meat or milk. Mothers then pass phytocannabinoids to their babies during breast feeding.

Cannabis Sativa, including hemp, is one of the only medicinal plants on Earth that grows naturally on nearly every continent of the world. The history of cannabis can be traced well beyond the very beginnings of civilization. It has been used as both food and medicine since we began walking this planet. It should come as no surprise then, that both humans as well as animals, have evolved a system of cells that are nourished and replenished by phytocannabinoids found only in cannabis.

During the 1930’s, shortly after the DuPont Chemical company invented nylon, the company, and their wealthy and influential investors, conspired to ban all cannabis – but especially hemp. Their success in demonizing this plant resulted in all phytocannabinoids being effectively removed from our food supply. Unbeknownst at the time, this would cause irreparable harm to the health and wellbeing of all mankind as a serious generational deficiency in cannabinoids began to develop worldwide.

The direct correlation between the complete removal of phytocannabinoids from our food supply, and the increasing rate of neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases cannot be denied. The fact that cannabis is showing exceptional promise as a treatment for these conditions is only the tip of the iceberg.

In its 2012 annual report, the Alzheimer’s Association (AA) estimates that 5.4 million people in the US have Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The risk of AD increases with age, so unless new treatments are discovered this number will grow sharply as the baby boomer generation reaches old age. By 2050, the AA estimates that between 11 million and 16 million Americans will have the disease, with one new case appearing every 33 seconds.

According to another study conducted four years ago, the prevalence and incidence of autoimmune diseases, such as lupus, celiac disease, and type 1 diabetes, is on the rise and researchers at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention are unsure why.

So what does this all mean?

In short, I believe that phytocannabinoids are essential nutrients, and should be categorized as such. As the pervasive ignorance about this vital and essential nutrient continues to wane, more and more people will experience what they have been missing most of their lives. Eventually, I predict, the daily percentage value of the phytocannabinoid content of the foods we eat will be printed on all labels just like other vitamins and essential nutrients. The sooner that governments of the world recognize that cannabis prohibition is detrimental to the health of mankind, the sooner the world can start getting healthy.